Comparative study of NGC40

Spurred on by my mate Dale, I completed sketches of NGC40 at some of the other magnifications listed in my observation notes from earlier in the week. Here are the 3 views, interspersed with the notes:

Bright star with bright halo unfiltered at 150X. UHC accentuates halo a bit, but it doesn't really need it.

235X unfiltered reveals better scale and a brightness gradient with the S end being somewhat dimmer. 335X better yet, revealing a slight pinching along N-S axis, with brighter sections to the periphery to the E and W.

450X really getting into the swing of it with knots along the W brighter edge. 600X reveals last knot in the chain (to the S) to be a foreground star, but the nebulosity is starting to wash out at this magnification.

Cheers,
-- Jeff.

Seriously impressive. Are you on another weather system up there, or is that the benifit of an obervatory?
Had all the big bits out cooling last night, it started raining, covered them initially then took the lot back in. Then it cleared up again. Just cant win.
Donal

Donal --

He, he, definitely the benefits of an observatory. It was exactly the experience you describe that drove me to build one.

Still, didn't help last night -- we were still partly overcast at midnight -- at which point I gave up and went to bed.

Cheers,
-- Jeff.